Chapter 728

The novel has already been fully translated up to the final chapter. You can access it on my Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/c/caleredhair

“Bang, bang, bang…”

Amidst the sound of the charge bugle, the marines rushed into the city gate of Haigucheng.

At the city gate, the soldiers defending Haigucheng engaged in close quarters combat with the marines. They charged with their swords at the Great Yu Empire soldiers who had no armor defense on their bodies.

The marines, holding firearms, showed no fear. They formed neat lines and charged forward. When they were fifty meters away, they raised their firearms and fired a volley, then they charged towards the Great Yu Empire army with their bayonet-fixed firearms.

A distance of fifty meters was too short for them. By the time they reloaded their ammunition, the enemy would have already charged over.

So, in fighting other armies, the Great Yu Empire army gradually developed a habit: making a final volley at fifty meters, and then immediately launching a bayonet charge.

By this method, they had defeated many enemies.

The Goryeo soldiers in Haigucheng had never seen this way of fighting. Looking at the Great Yu Empire soldiers in dark green uniforms, charging with bayonets, the Goryeo defending army, having lost a third of its strength in the initial volley, immediately collapsed. Before the marines could even engage them, they fled completely.

“A rabble.”

Yue Yun looked at the battlefield from a high vantage point through his telescope. It seemed the rout of the Goryeo soldiers was within his plan.

Xie Yuan chuckled and said, “This Haigucheng is easier to take than we imagined.”

“It’s not that Haigucheng is easy to take, but that we caught them off guard this time. I have to say, the information provided by Wang Xuan and his people is very important,” Yue Yun said.

“The General is right,” Xie Yuan looked at Haigucheng. Then he changed the subject and said, “General, don’t you want to go into Haigucheng and see for yourself?”

Yue Yun nodded and went with Xie Yuan towards Haigucheng.

This time, Wang Xuan not only provided information about the Goryeo navy but also gave him a map of Haigucheng.

It could be said that thanks to the intelligence provided by Wang Xuan, they knew Haigucheng like the back of their hand.

After entering the city, the marines showed no panic. They quickly began to clear out the resistance within the city according to the information provided by the map.

Accompanied by gunshots entering Haigucheng, Yue Yun said to Xie Yuan, “Capturing Haigucheng is not our ultimate goal. Now we need someone to deliver the message to the King of Goryeo and convey our demands.”

Xie Yuan frowned, “I will go and capture a Goryeo person now and have him return to deliver the message to the King of Goryeo.”

As the two were speaking, they suddenly saw a well-dressed young man walking towards them. Noticing the young man, the soldiers immediately surrounded him.

The young man was none other than Li Cheng-jae. He looked at the two general-like figures and suddenly knelt down, saying in the language of the Great Yu Empire, “Generals, spare my life.”

Yue Yun asked, puzzled, “Are you a Great Yu Empire citizen?”

Li Cheng-jae honestly said, “I have half Great Yu Empire blood.” After a pause, he continued, “My mother is from the Great Yu Empire.”

Yue Yun nodded. He looked at the young man with some surprise. “Why do you kneel before me?”

Li Cheng-jae said, “If the General is willing, I wish to assist the General.”

“Assist me?” Yue Yun laughed heartily. This young man was quite strange.

Xie Yuan suddenly remembered something. He said to Yue Yun, “General, this person speaks both the Great Yu Empire’s language and Goryeo’s language. Wouldn’t it be most suitable to have him deliver the message?”

“Ah, you’re right.” Yue Yun also suddenly realized this. He had just been thinking of finding someone to go to Ryukyo City, Goryeo’s Capital.

However, even so, this young man’s appearance was simply too extraordinary. So he asked, “Why do you want to help me?”

Li Cheng-jae did not hide his true intentions and recounted his experiences, even fully disclosing his previous acts of plunder in the Great Yu Empire.

At this point, Yue Yun and Xie Yuan understood. It turned out this Li Cheng-jae was ambitious and wanted to use them to become a hero in Goryeo during its chaotic times.

“Hmph, you went to the Great Yu Empire to plunder my common people, and now you dare appear before me? Aren’t you seeking death?”

Although Li Cheng-jae spoke the truth, Yue Yun suddenly became wary of this person, because in his opinion, this was an ambitious individual.

However, on the other hand, he did indeed need an ambitious person to stir up trouble in Goryeo.

“I have no rebuttal in this matter. Please mete out punishment, General,” Li Cheng-jae remained kneeling on the ground.

Yue Yun’s eyes darted around. He said, “However, I am in need of capable people at this moment, so I will temporarily not pursue your guilt. If you wish to prove your sincerity, you only need to do one thing for me now.”

“General, please instruct,” Li Cheng-jae secretly rejoiced. This risky move had paid off.

“I want you to deliver the news of Haigucheng to the King of Goryeo, and also convey my conditions to him,” Yue Yun said.

Li Cheng-jae nodded, “General, that’s no problem at all. Although I’ve been driven out of my home, I still have a few friends in Ryukyo City.”

“If that’s the case, then you will now serve as a messenger between me and the King of Goryeo,” Yue Yun said.

Then, he relayed all his demands to the King of Goryeo to Li Cheng-jae, instructing him to return to Ryukyo City.

After Li Cheng-jae left, Xie Yuan said, “General, you believe him so easily?”

“Do you think I would believe him so simply? Someone needs to go for this matter, and he is very suitable,” Yue Yun mused.

…

Qingzhou Province, Imperial Study.

Xiao Ming received news of Yue Yun’s advance towards Goryeo. In this memorial, he had clearly mentioned the purpose of attacking Goryeo to Yue Yun.

According to the current time, Yue Yun must have already launched an attack on Haigucheng. Now, his only concern was whether Yue Yun could bring him good news.

After all, this matter concerned the security of the northern border and the Great Yu Empire’s trade exports.

At this time, Pang Yukun was also present, having learned of the matter. He said, “Your Majesty, since the establishment of the private industrial zone, the output of both cloth and white sugar has increased significantly. If we continue to develop, it will indeed be necessary to sell these goods to Goryeo and Japan.”

Xiao Ming nodded, “That’s why I am constantly planning.” Then he asked, “Oh, by the way, what is Branden and his group doing now?”

“Your Majesty, Branden is now requesting to purchase our steam engines. What do you think?” Pang Yukun hesitated, “The price he offered is very high; he’s willing to purchase one for five hundred thousand taels of silver.”

Hearing this, Xiao Ming smiled. Ever since Branden witnessed the steam engines in the industrial zone, he had been hatching a scheme.

Especially after discovering technology that Europe didn’t have, this fellow pounced like a cat seeing a mouse.

“It shows that this Branden is shrewd. He will certainly use the one he purchases back for imitation,” Xiao Ming sneered.